Life, 1920-03-11 · page 24 of 40
Life — March 11, 1920 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes New York State's new income tax and government excess. Comptroller Eugene M. Travis circulated a cheerful booklet justifying the tax; Life mocks this as absurd—comparing government persuasion to a dentist praising tooth extraction. The central cartoon shows a taxpayer as a mule being driven to water (labeled "Democratic Party" and "Arithmetic"), unable to drink—meaning citizens cannot resist taxation despite arguments. Other cartoons ridicule: - **"The Joys of Tax-paying"**: A bitter analogy that before taxes existed (the "Cave Man" era), people had no income and thus paid nothing. Now taxes will eventually consume all income. - **Governor Edwards' fortune-telling**: Sarcastically suggests New York's tripled government costs (300% increase) are worth celebrating. - **"Lovable" taxes**: Mocking bureaucratic language claiming taxes make life "lovable." The bottom section criticizes prohibition as government overreach and questions why inheriting education isn't prioritized as much as inheriting wealth—broader critiques of state intervention and priorities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: Recently “THE GHOST WALKS” FOR SIR OLIVER LODGE he Joys of Tax- paying HAT is an alluring little booklet the Hon. Eu- gene M. Travis, Comptrol- ler of the State of New York, has sent out to the taxpayers to show them how happy they ought to be to be per- mitted to pay the new income tax. It is almost as though one’s dentist should send a similar argument to prove how happy we should be to be per- mitted to have our teeth pulled. Here is one of the Comptrol- ler’s cheery little comforters: e Man got mighty little out of life, and he got that mighty little for only a short time. A cave was his habitat by night, the wilderness by day. He received no remuneration for his labor—he had no income, therefore he paid no taxes. Pretty soon we may pay so many taxes that we shall have no incomes, and then perhaps we shall be glad to be Cave Men again. GOVERNOR EDWARDS HAS HIS FORTUNE TOLD Here's another: From the days of the Cave Man to the present day is a long step, and every one of us who lives in this generation has every reason to be proud of the gov ernment of the State of New York. In the past twenty years the cost of running the government has increased three hundred per cent We are paying for the comforts of civilization, and those comforts are worth all they cost. it comes high, but you must have it Take your medicine and smile, Mr. Taxpayer, for Brother reader, with equal cheerfulness we should pay from our income the tax, When we pay a tax it is to make our life more livable and lovable. In other words “Lovable” is good. How the New Yorkers and Jerscy- ites who are to pay the New York State income tax do love those tax-eaters up at Albany! Work Done for Her ARRINGTON: How do you like Prohibition? Carrincron: It is an interference with the personal liberty of my wife, who married me to reform me. ““THEY talk,” said the boy to his mates, “of the f) names, traditions and fortunes we will inherit. Now, what I want to know is, why they don’t make it possible for us to inherit our educations.”